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George Carlin Estate Files Lawsuit Against Group Behind AI-Generated Stand-Up Special: ‘A Casual Theft of a Great American Artist’s Work’ (variety.com)

submitted 7 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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George Carlin Estate Files Lawsuit Against Group Behind AI-Generated Stand-Up Special: ‘A Casual Theft of a Great American Artist’s Work’::George Carlin's estate has filed a lawsuit against the creators behind an AI-generated comedy special featuring a recreation of the comedian's voice.

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[–] [email protected] 8 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Celebrity likeness is not new territory.

Crispin Glover successfully sued the filmmakers of Back to the Future 2 for using his likeness without permission. Even with dead celebrities, you need permission from their estate in order to use their likeness.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Yes, but it's new territory in the sense of AI and creative works. If I were to use a photo of Tom Hanks for commercial purposes, that would be clearly stealing his likeness. If I were to create a drawing or painting of Tom Hanks, it becomes a lot less clear cut, and the answer depends on weather my work can be considered, "transformative."

Many people using AI today are claiming that the works being created are transformative; they're not using a picture of Tom Hanks, AI is creating a picture of Hanks from existing pictures, just like a painter uses references. This is essentially what the creators of the Carlin special are saying in their disclaimer; this is an AI impression of Carlin, not the real Carlin, and should be treated like any comedian doing an impression.

This is the new territory. I don't know how the courts will rule, but based on the recent ruling against the Warhol estate, there will be a high bar for what is considered transformative.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Even professional impersonators must pay royalties to the original artist or their estate. The Carlin example seems to me to be impersonation rather than an impression.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 6 months ago

Yeah, I'd agree with that. I hope it comes up at trial.